Kuja
The Kuja are a tribe of all female fighters found on the island of Amazon Lily. Apparently, until they found Luffy on their island, they had never seen a man before. One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 514 and Episode 408, The Kuja first appear. Appearance Typically they seem to have a warrior style of clothing they have for every day use that is skimpy and usually having straps, as well as a bikini style briefs/clothing on their lower regions or very short loin clothes. Many wear thigh length boots and stockings or have their legs completely bare. The style of clothing they wear would be considered otherwise "kinky" to normal people but are worn freely by the women on the island. On top of this outfit, they often wear a long cape that reaches from the shoulders to the ankles. Workers seen in the fields and at other chores without a cape, thus this proves the capes are not fixed permanently onto their outfits. For evening and casual wear it was seen that they have a patterned shawl that goes over their top half but leaves the shoulders bare They wear nothing underneath this shawl and it is tied together at the middle of the breasts with a single bow and often wear a mini-skirt on their lower half to match this or the usually bikini/loin cloth instead. Warriors are seen carrying a large snake wrapped around them; when the Kuja threaten Luffy, it is revealed that they use the snakes as bows. Biology It is stated that the women who leave Amazon Lily sometimes return pregnant. Oddly, they always give birth to females. Apparently, for the empresses of the tribe, they can contract a disease known as "love sickness", which is when the empress grows infatuated with a man, but keeps that love suppressed, which leads to death. Inter-species Relationships The Kuja tribe consists entirely of women. The majority of them are therefore unfamiliar with men, particularly their anatomy. Just as they have limited knowledge on men, likewise the rest of the world seems to know little about them. Momonga's men give one of the many examples of the Kuja pirates rumours, stating they turn people to stone. However, this rumor applies only to Boa Hancock.One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 516 and Episode 410, One of Momonga's men relays a rumor to the others. The Kuja have always lived in peaceful isolation due to their natural advantage of living in an island in the Calm Belt, protected from the rest of the world by the Sea Kings who surround them. However, this isolation has slowly eroded away as advancements in Seastone technology has allowed the government to make new ships that can pass through the Calm Belt with no Sea King interference. The only means of protection remaining is the alliance held by their empress as a member of the Shichibukai, which both protects the Kuja from Marine attack but unfortunately classifies all, both at sea and at home, as pirates. The Kuja and their leader must comply with the government's terms or risk the attack and destruction of everyone on the island, a peace barely hanging by a thread in a rapidly changing world.One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 517 and Episode 411, Kuja relationship to the world. Strength The women are raised in the ways of the warrior and are often burly and strong, but there are the odd beauties amongst them. Despite being a warrior race, the Kuja cultivates a surprisingly peaceful existence within Amazon Lily, and only engages in battle amongst themselves in arranged competitions held in the local arena for the general public's entertainment. They may lack information on Devil Fruits, but in exchange, most Kuja warriors, if not all, seems to be knowledgeable and fairly proficient in the use of Haki; which is something that is usually exclusive to none but the most powerful warriors so far seen in the series, such as Shanks, Luffy, and Rayleigh. Typically as there are no men to do the work that they would otherwise do elsewhere in the world, the women do all chores from fishing to building to building instead. Notably in one panel of the manga a woman is seen catching a stock of fish with her net and commenting on the fish being small fry. In another panel a working was seen with a large heavy bag lifted above her head. One Piece manga - Chapter 515, the Kuja at work. In short, the women amongst the tribe as a equal in skills and capabilities to most men around the world, perhaps even surpassing the average men in areas women would not be allowed to otherwise surpass elsewhere. Beliefs The Kuja are a race who consider strength as beauty and there is no room for the greedy and foolish to enter (an odd irony considering their current leader).One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 515 and Episode 409, The Kuja information. They seem to have little knowledge about Devil Fruit powers,One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 515 and Episode 409, the Kuja thought Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi's stretching abilities were part of a man's natural anatomy. despite the fact that Boa Hancock and her two sisters have Devil Fruit powers themselves (Margueritte actually believes that Luffy can't swim because men are "useless").One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 516 and Episode 410, Hancock displays her Devil Fruit ability. Taking advantage of this, Hancock lied to the rest of the tribe, telling them her and her sisters' powers were from slaughtering a Gorgon in battle, instead of them being fed Devil Fruits during their enslavement by the hands of the Tenryuubito.One Piece Manga and Anime - Chapter 521 and Episode 415, Boa Hancock reveals to Luffy that when she, Marigold and Sandersonia were fed Devil Fruits when they were slaves. Typically, they seem to have no fear of waking around in skimpy outfits or even bathing naked in public. One would presume this is because of the lack of men they never develop the associations men have with seeing a woman's body naked. Until Luffy came along, no man was allowed to even set foot on their island, but the Kuja at the time not only brought Luffy to their village (be it by accident), but allowed exception to their normal rules of never allowing men onto the island. Translation and Dub Issues Kuja means "Nine Snakes". Fittingly, the tribe's emblem is of nine snakes originating from a skull. Trivia *They are all named after flowers or other flowering plants, even their island is named after one. The name of the island may also be a reference to the Amazons of Greek myth, which their culture is heavily based on. *In nature, the method of reproducing an all female species is a form of reproduction that falls into the category of "Parthenogenesis" type reproduction. *Many of the Kuja had recolors from their initial introduction in the intro "Share the One World". **Daisy had her top changed from yellow to green. **Blue Fan had a complete recolor. **Elder Nyon's jacket was changed from blue to red. **Nerine's hair color was switched from blond to brown, her clothes also were recolored. **In some cases even the height of the Amazon seems to have changed somewhat. *Many cultures have seen a form of snake worship and it is common throughout the world to see deities in the form of Snakes. In a religious sense, snake worship can be seen as a sexual related symbol (fertility), the Kuja themselves can be seen as an ironic view on the ideas of sex, women and snake worshiping in the world (specifically Hebrew and Christian interpretations of "snake" = fertility and sex). They themselves seem generally naive on such matters such a men and their reproductive organs or the fact their dress code would make them items of sexual interests to men. See also *Kuja Pirates *Boa Hancock *Boa Sandersonia *Boa Marigold *Marguerite *Elder Nyon References External Links *Amazons - Wikipedia article about the mythical race the Kuja are based on. Site Navigation Category:Race Category:Kuja